Rochester overpowers Elwood, sets up semifinal showdown with undefeated Eastbrook

Val T.
33 minutes ago
6 min read

Meadows runs for TD, catches TD pass; defense holds Panthers to 16 total yards

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Carson Paulik Grant Holloway Mason Hisey

ELWOOD — The Rochester football team continued their eight-week trend of breaking opposing teams’ hearts, will and perhaps body parts in a 44-0 whitewash of host Elwood in a Class 2A, Sectional 36 quarterfinal at Panther Stadium Friday.

Carson Paulik ran for a touchdown and threw a touchdown pass to Trenton Meadows, and Meadows also had a touchdown run.

Grant Holloway also ran for 42 yards and two touchdowns on his only two carries, and Brant Beck also ran for a touchdown for the No. 8 Zebras, who won their eighth straight game and improved to 9-1.

Rochester’s defense recorded their fifth shutout of the season and cut their defensive scoring average to 4.1 ppg, which ranks No. 2 in the state. They held Elwood to two first downs and 16 yards of total offense.

“I think everything’s just locked in,” Rochester coach Ron Shaffer said. “They’ve got a goal. They’re kind of on a mission. I think things are locked and loaded.”

They also scored a safety in the first quarter when Grant Clark and Mason Hisey teamed up to tackle Panther punter Bracken Jetty in the end zone after Jetty retreated to try and recover a punt snap that flew over his head.

Jetty, who also starts at defensive end, was injured on the play and did not return. Starting running back Ryan Muñoz also left in the second quarter with an apparent right leg injury.

Rochester scored 28 points in the second quarter despite having only eight offensive snaps. One of the offensive snaps was a 32-yard field goal that Spencer Backus missed on first down after Rochester recovered a fumble in the Elwood red zone. By then, Rochester had built a 44-point lead.

Elwood finished 3-7.

Rochester played without stalwart junior inside linebacker Ethan Bailey due to a knee injury. Junior Bralen Jones filled in.

“”I thought he did well,” Shaffer said of Jones. “The speed of the game, even with a team like this, is still faster than what it is with JV, so it took him a little bit to pick it up, but I thought he did well.”

Rochester will host No. 5 Eastbrook in next Friday’s semifinal. Eastbrook edged No. 12 Alexandria 37-36 in overtime to improve to 10-0.

Rochester took the opening kickoff 62 yards in seven plays for a score. The drive included a 20-yard run from Meadows on the first play from scrimmage and a 22-yard run from Beck that got them down to the 1. Beck scored on the next play to make it 7-0.

After a Backus touchback on the kickoff, Elwood went three-and-out and faced a fourth-and-11 from their own 19. The punt snap sailed over Jetty’s head.

Jetty ran back to the end zone to pick up the loose ball, but Clark and Hisey swarmed him.

The lead was 9-0.

Rochester followed with an 11-play, 55-yard drive after Elwood had to kick it away. The drive included a Paulik 5-yard run on fourth-and-1 from the Elwood 25, and Jabez Yarber followed with a 14-yard run down to the Elwood 6.

A holding penalty negated a Meadows six-yard scoring run, but the Zebras scored on a heady play two plays later anyway: Paulik handed off to Meadows, who handed off to Yarber, who pitched the ball option-style to Paulik just as he was about to be tackled. Paulik took it in for a touchdown around the left perimeter to make it 16-0.

With their punter injured, Elwood went for it on fourth-and-6 from their own 16 and fourth-and-9 from their own 26 on their ensuing possession. Sophomore running back Blaise Jones converted both first downs, and the Panthers matriculated the ball from their own 12 to their own 41.

But they eventually stopped Abe Gallegos for a one-yard gain on fourth-and-11 from their own 36 with 10:15 left in the first half, and Elwood never got another first down.

“No, they’re still going to get some first downs,” Shaffer said when asked if the defense made adjustments. “But I thought the kids played well from that point on and got a little bit more aggressive. They do things a little bit differently. The kids adjusted well and got it taken care of.”

On the first play of the ensuing drive, Rochester ran a rocket sweep to Meadows. Moving in motion from the left to the right side of the line, he took a pitch from Paulik at quarterback on the move and turned the corner and showed off his speed to the end zone.

“That was a rocket,” Meadows said. “There was a wide open hole. Shout out to my blockers on the line. They do everything for me. I saw that hole, and I just went for it.”

After an Elwood three-and-out, Rochester went on another one-play scoring drive. Paulik faked an off-tackle handoff to Yarber and instead launched deep to Meadows running a skinny post pattern behind the defense. Meadows caught it and went untouched for a 61-yard score to increase the lead to 30-0.

Meadows worked on his speed to get ready this season.

“I worked very hard,” Meadows said. “I was in the gym a lot more, and I was working on footwork. Some of us guys all got together and talked about what we’re going to do over the season to get better. … I feel a lot faster. We did speed workouts over the summer, and I can tell they’re working for all of us as a team.”

Elwood went four-and-out on their next possession with a blitzing Clark forcing an incomplete pass from Elwood quarterback Jace Reese on fourth down.

Holloway scored from the 20 on the next play to make it 37-0.

And after another three-and-out and a 12-yard punt, Holloway scored from the 22 on a jet sweep to the left, relying on blocks from Meadows and Matt Crossland and then taking on Jones at the 2 and barging his way in for another touchdown.

With 5:05 left in the half, the first-string offense was done for the night.

“Our offensive line is big and strong,” senior left tackle Declan Gard said. “And we all know what we’re doing, so that helps a lot.”

Gard is back playing football as a senior after taking two years off. He is new to the offensive line.

“Honestly, it really only took me about two weeks,” Gard said of learning the blocking schemes. “The coaching, they really got on me, and my o-line helped me. … My position is probably a little more strength than it is footwork, but for a guard or center, it definitely is more footwork than it is strength.”

Zebra notes

Shaffer said that Bailey is “coming along” and “walking better” in his recuperation. He said Bailey tried on a knee brace Thursday and that it is a “possibility” that he plays against Eastbrook.
Elwood lost their sectional opener for the ninth consecutive year. Elwood also lost to Rochester 46-0 in last year’s sectional.
Elwood did not complete a pass. Elwood’s longest play from scrimmage in the second half was four yards.
Both Mitchell Clark and Mason Oliver saw time at quarterback in the second half for Rochester. Tanner Horn’s 13-yard run in the fourth quarter was the longest play of the second half.
Eight of Rochester’s nine wins have ended with a running clock. The clock has not stopped in the second half in the second half in their last four games.
New Palestine, a Class 5A team who was idle Friday, leads the state with a 3.6 defensive scoring average.